Much ink has been spilled over what needs to be done to 'save' school libraries. In Washington State, the exploits of the Spokane Moms are already legendary, particularly in their direct engagement with the Washington legislature and their aggressive advocacy at the state and national level. But as the ecological adage goes, think globally, act locally. In Vancouver Public Schools, I have worked alongside both teacher librarian colleagues and district administration not to so much to save libraries and library positions, but to refocus them around strategic district instructional needs. I plan to formulate a more thorough review of what we've done and what we've learned. But for now, let me offer a shortlist of things that have proven critical to the success we're having in SW Washington. In no particular order,
Get organized. Without this, nothing will happen. Until you do this, you are one library or one librarian instead of a cadre of professionals working and speaking as one. One person can get things going, but it takes a team to get the job done.
Think systemically. Good relationships and partnerships in buildings are important. They’re critical at the district level. Make connections with district departments.
Create common cause with your librarian colleagues. You don’t have to agree on everything, but you can all agree that libraries are still relevant and that you all want to keep your jobs. Start with that.
Find one or more leader/advocates. These persons should be
Respected and trusted by library colleagues
Diplomatic and politically-savvy…this is about district politics, not about red states and blue states
Innovative in philosophy and practice
Able to speak articulately with/for the group and work effectively with other administrators, departments and stakeholders
Lose the Us vs. Them attitude. Everyone’s in it for the kids. Old animosities, grudges, failures are old news. New century...new need for working together.
Lose the entitlement thing. We are here to serve students and teachers. If our space, materials, program and/or job don’t do that anymore, we need to change them.
Build bridges with key departments and programs
IT: You gotta do it. Make nice with them. You have more in common with them than differences. In the words of the Bee Gees, you should be dancing, yeah.
Curriculum: An old-school, but essential partnership. You should be the eyes, ears and arms of the curriculum department. Both sides will benefit from better communication and coordination of efforts.
Literacy: This is a very traditional partnership that frequently ends up being competitive and confrontational. Despite sometimes competing collections, resources and programs, we are all about reading and literacy.
Build trust by working for free. Help another program (IT, curriculum, literacy, etc.) solve a problem. Do the job well. Don’t complain. Don’t ask for anything in return. Repeat. Eventually, you will build the guanxi to make bigger things happen.
Look for win-win opportunities. At both district and site levels, there are many projects, initiatives and opportunities in which teacher librarians can add value.
Stop complaining. Just find a way to solve the problem. If it can’t be fixed, move on to the next problem. And don’t complain to administrators. Offer a fix, not a dig.
Be future-focused. Drive decisions based the needs of 21st century learning and your millennial learners, not on past practice, convention and/or habit.
Consider letting go of ‘library’ as a word, but not as an idea. Consider these questions:
Do we care more about names, traditions, formats and convention than about serving our students well?
If library isn’t part of the name, does that make the job, the space or the program any less powerful?
What if we were the last to realize that the ‘L word’ was the only thing holding us back?
Much ink has been spilled over what needs to be done to 'save' school libraries. In Washington State, the exploits of the Spokane Moms are already legendary, particularly in their direct engagement with the Washington legislature and their aggressive advocacy at the state and national level. But as the ecological adage goes, think globally, act locally. In Vancouver Public Schools, I have worked alongside both teacher librarian colleagues and district administration not to so much to save libraries and library positions, but to refocus them around strategic district instructional needs. I plan to formulate a more thorough review of what we've done and what we've learned. But for now, let me offer a shortlist of things that have proven critical to the success we're having in SW Washington. In no particular order,